Full credit.

As free trade ramps up in Central America, the world's superbanks continue to jockey for position. Citigroup agreed to buy Grupo Finandero Uno, the largest credit card Issuer in the region at US$2.10 billion in assets. Privately held, Grupo Financlero Uno had 1.1 million cards in circulation, $1.20 billion in credit card receivables and $1.30 billion in deposits in Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama at the end of the third quarter of 2006. The group has 75 branches and more than 100 mini-branches and points of sale and will continue to operate under its own brand. Previously, U.K bank HSBC agreed to pay $1.77 billion for control of Panama's Banistmo, which has operations throughout Central America, while GE Capital spent $500 million to buy BAC International Bank, with 178 branches in the region.